Grieving the Living: Music alumna Anna Roscoe releases debut EP
05 August 2025
For Music BA(Hons) alumna Anna Roscoe, songwriting has always been an essential way to process emotions as she feels them. Now, Anna has transmuted her love for song and writing into a debut EP that explores the experience and stages of grief, performed and written under the pseudonym Morveren.
Anna’s cover art is illustrated by fellow Falmouth graduate Ioana Sabau, an artist who studied Illustration BA(Hons) at Falmouth at the same time. Their friendship at university has now blossomed to become an artistic collaboration, bringing Grieving the Living to visual life.
We chatted with Anna to learn more about the story behind her EP, the process of creating a record and how her university friendship became a collaboration of music and art.
How did you find your time studying music at Falmouth?
My experience of studying music at Falmouth was integral for me to grow in confidence as a musician. I had initially studied Psychology at another university for a year before making the decision to drop out and study music at Falmouth instead. Music has always been my first passion, however, for years I had kept my songwriting to myself and so making the decision to study music at university was a scary one.
The Music BA provided a variety of modules to explore, and I discovered new interests such as studio recording and score-writing. It also introduced me to a host of different styles of music and songwriting approaches that continue to influence me now. I graduated with a lot more confidence and self-belief in my music.
What story do you hope to tell through your music?
I wrote my EP Grieving the Living over the space of two years, which consists of five songs that capture the complex feelings that surround grieving someone who is still alive. They were written as a way of processing my feelings, and I originally had no intention of recording them, let alone sharing them! But I have always wanted to record music professionally and a part of me hoped that other people might also take comfort from these songs.
The EP covers some of the more difficult emotions that are experienced, in addition to sadness, before being able to reach that final stage of acceptance. When listening to the tracks in order, I hope it tells a story of growth and gives other people hope that closure is possible.
How did the collaboration begin with Ioana?
Ioana has always been a great supporter of my music, and she has seen me grow as a musician since my first year of university. For this collaboration, I had a few ideas of the kind of album artwork I was looking for, and Ioana took these and turned them into something beautifully original and even better than I ever imagined it could be. I believe Ioana has a natural gift of visually representing music; every creative decision is carefully thought out. She is a pleasure to work with: organised, professional and innovative as an artist.
Who and what has been your biggest influences while creating your debut EP?
I'd have to say my mum and brother have been the biggest influence on this project as so many of the lyrics have been written after one of our conversations. In terms of musical influences, Tori Amos has been the greatest influence on me as an artist so far. I was first introduced to her through my lecturers while studying at Falmouth, and as soon as I heard her music, it felt like I had been waiting to hear her songs for years!
How did you find the process of creating the EP?
Before this project, my experience of recording music outside of a university setting was not as successful; I was naive to think I could enter a recording session simply as an artist. The engineer took over and it was disheartening to hear my song become dominated by someone else's vision. My voice was lost both musically and literally during the recording process and so this time I had to approach it with a business mindset.
Firstly, I had to be really discerning when deciding who my collaborators were. As a producer of my own songs, it was important I had the right engineer; I needed someone who could respect my creative vision and bring their own ideas so that my songs could reach their full potential. Nobody I met felt like the right match until I met the talented engineer and producer, Ralph Stokes. I couldn't have had a more different recording experience this time.
Ralph took time to understand my vision and I felt incredibly supported by him. My EP would not sound the way it does without Ralph's musical and creative input. I also had the experience of working with two session musicians, David French on drums, and Kerrin Tatman on cello. After years of only hearing midi cello and drum parts on my songs, to have the real thing was something I had been dreaming of for a very long time.
Overall, in being discerning and protective of my work, I was able to enjoy the process of being creative. I learnt so much about all aspects involved in making music, starting from the original demos I made in my bedroom, to producing the songs with Ralph, recording the different instruments involved and finally hearing it all come together in the mixing and mastering stages. It took around nine months to complete and the whole process has only made me want to record more songs. I'm now starting to work on some demos for an album.
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